Austin -- ”The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the Texas branch of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has the right to have the state issue license plates adorned with the Confederate battle flag.

In April last year, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled against the group, declaring that the state was allowed to pick and choose which messages and symbols appear on state-issued plates.

At issue in the Circuit Court was whether the state Department of Motor Vehicles Board had engaged in viewpoint discrimination and violated the group's First Amendment right when it denied an application for a specialty plate.

The judges ruled that license plates are a form of private speech, and thus protected by the First Amendment. The court also ruled that the Board's rejection of the plate favored one speaker over another.

Supporters of the plate argued that the flag honored Confederate soldiers and Southern heritage, while those opposed said the flag symbolized a racially-charged message and that distributing such a plate would be tantamount to the state memorializing slavery.

Texas could choose to appeal for a rehearing by the 5th Circuit judges or to the Supreme Court.

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WHO ARE THE VA FLAGGERS?

We are citizens of the Commonwealth who stand AGAINST those who would desecrate our Confederate Monuments and memorials, and FOR our Confederate Veterans.

The Virginia Flaggers were organized on September 5, 2011. What began with just a few dedicated Southerners, has now grown to include hundreds of people, from all over the country, who have joined us in defending the honor of the Confederate Veteran, protesting Heritage violations, and forwarding the colors in Richmond, and Virginia… and beyond!

When needed, flaggers stand with our flags against those in opposition in a peaceful, yet forceful manner, to educate and inform the general public, and in open and visible protest against those who have attacked us, our flags, our ancestors, or our Heritage.

Flaggers speak for those who have no voice. We relay a message of Honor, Dignity, Respect, and Heritage to those who never knew, or to those who have forgotten, and to attempt to reach those who refuse to hear.

Our weapon is the Confederate Battle Flag. Our enemies are those who worship ignorance, historical revisionism and Political Correctness.

We take pride in taking a stand for the Cause. For this Cause, we call others to flock to the banner of our ancestors, take up their flags, and join us in battle, for OUR TIME IS NOW.

The Va Flaggers reject any person or group whose actions tarnish or bring dishonor upon the Confederate soldier or his reason for fighting, including those groups and persons using our cherished flag as a symbol for their own dishonorable purposes.